vent: Mom's doc is a quack!

Would your mom be willing to go to the ER next time for CP? I would call sternal pain an emergency. Women don't always present with all the classic symptoms of an MI. Would she be willing to switch to a different primary?

Of course, I do have a friend who spent the last 6 weeks with chest pain. Multiple trips to the ER. EKG fine, vitals stable, lipids and enzymes WNL. Young, 41, in good shape, nonsmoker. He finally couldn't take it anymore and begged the cardio to take a closer look. They took him to the cath lab and lo and behold, his LAD was 90% occluded. He ended up with a stent last week. The doc said it probably had genetic influences. Both his parents died in their 40s/50s of heart disease.

Send her to the ER

There you are guilty untill proven innocent

After my nagging for 4 days, she's finally taking it seriously. Her pulmonologist reviwed & referred to cardiologist. She's going in for a full cardio workup tomorrow (treadmill stress, nuclear stress, echo, labs). Hopefully its nothing serious, but we'll have concete data. She's finally starting to believe that maybe her PCP is incompetent afterall.

Update: She went to the cardiologist & got the works. Labs were all ok.

Just got results of nuclear stress this morning and she's won a trip to the cath lab. Fortunately, it isn't an emergency - he'll do it early next week. Says likely to need a stent placed in the LAD.

I hate being right, but so glad I'm a nurse and recognized the PCP's incompetence. I hate to imagine what would have happened if I weren't a nurse.

Should have went right to ER. Any chest pain is considered an MI until proven otherwise in my book.

Should have went right to ER. Any chest pain is considered an MI until proven otherwise in my book.

Big amen from this Tele corner!

I couldn't agree more. Sadly, my mother is the epitomy of non compliance (I could hear her smoking when she called me with the news). Denial (D-Nile) isn't just a river in Egypt.

I spoke to the cardiologist (who is wonderful btw!!) and he said she was told during the first visit to call him if she continued to have CP and used the NTG spray he rx'd. He hadn't heard from her since the tests, so he called to follow up. She then told him she had been using the NTG all week when she had CP and "Boy, did it really help with the pain!". She didn't tell me she'd still been having the pain - and I went to see her last weekend! She's a lousy patient - and I'm afriad i'm going to be THAT family member we all dread - the "Daughter whose a nurse"!!! AAccckkkk!!!

Dear Maolin,

I feel for you. Luckily my parents are fairly young and free from any serious health problems, but I do take care of my 87 year old grandmother who still drives, plays cards, goes to church daily. She has more of a social life than I do, but boy things can sure turn around fast. She has chronic UTIs and she gets a little fever and goes bonkers. I am so glad I have gotten to know her more in these last few years though. I guess it's all worth it in the end. You just have to take them with a grain of salt and do the best you can. Sometimes they will frustrate the heck out of you, but just hang in there and know that nobody could be taking better care of her than a nurse and a daughter.